Year 6-7 Transition

Feel free to colour code the zip folders or purchase a different brand.  We have added the zip folders to assist our students to keep their equipment and materials organised and ensure they are organised for each class. 

Our book provider at FHS is JP Books.  A list is provided on their website. Your student has been given the opportunity to select either Japanese or Italian which forms the basis of their homegroup. You will be notified of your student’s language when you receive your letter informing you of your student’s homegroup teacher.  

EAL stands for English as an Additional Language.  Please do not purchase these books unless your child qualifies for this class.  

We highly recommend that you purchase the zip up folders for each subject.  These folders will assist your student to keep their locker neat and tidy as well as assisting their ability to find the relevant books and equipment for each subject.

You will receive notification in week 10 of term 4 regarding the homegroup your student is allocated to and their language.  If you have not submitted a request for a language your child will be allocated either Italian or Japanese based on other factors. 

No, not unless they have been assessed at being at least 12 months behind the expected standard in literacy. English Extension is a bespoke program for students who require additional intervention and support in their English literacy. The transition team gathers literacy data from students’ primary schools, including school reports, On Demand,  PAT, Naplan, and teacher interviews and combines it with our own assessments, which run at orientation day, and in the first weeks of the academic year. Parents of students who are identified by the team as potentially benefiting from this program will be contacted by the transition team. Parents who believe that their child may benefit from this program are encouraged to contact Amy Murphy to arrange a literacy assessment.

The Statewide Orientation Day will be held on Tuesday, 12th December. The orientation day will take place on your students’ base campus. 

Please refer to letter of offer to confirm campus or https://www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au/ to check your zoned campus.

Please attend the day in your primary school uniform (if your school has one), a hat, water bottle and packed lunch/snacks.

The prescribed model of Chromebook is the Lenovo 500E G3 Yoga. All Chromebooks will be purchased through the Learning with Technologies Online Portal at a minimum cost of $589.01.

For Chromebook order information  please refer to ‘Chromebook Information’.

This device provides students with 24-7 access to a wide range of digital learning opportunities and is carried forward into the following years. This program provides every student with access to the internet and a range of digital learning opportunities. In recent years teachers at the school have successfully incorporated online collaboration and digital learning into their teaching programs, and we believe a one-to-one learning environment (where every student has continuous access to a personal computer) will further enhance these successful teaching strategies. A Chromebook is a relatively low-cost device that allows students and teachers to use the full range of applications available in the ​Google Apps for Education ​suite.

If your child would like to participate in the instrumental music program please fill in this form. 

Once students have been provided with an offer to enrol at FHS the Transition Team sends a Google Form to their primary school requesting information regarding academics, behaviour, inclusion, friendships and much more.  This information is then reviewed by the Numeracy and Literacy Learning specialists, Wellbeing and Inclusion Coordinators and EAL coordinator.  We then request a meeting with each primary school to discuss the needs of particular students.  This information is fed into an individual profile that is shared with teachers via our Compass Portal.  We maintain a strong relationship with primary schools to ensure we have a strong knowledge of each of our new year 7 students.

In 2024 our school day commences at 9am and finishes at 3.15pm.  We advise students to be onsite no later than 8:50am in order to prepare for their first class.

Our transition team has worked hard at gathering in depth academic, wellbeing and social information about our incoming students. This data is used to inform homegroup composition and targeted literacy, numeracy and wellbeing support. We are aware of the students that do not have any other students from their primary school attending FHS.  Please feel free to contact our Transition Team to share any concerns or ask any questions.

In year 7 and 8 students can select their Language; either Italian and Japanese. Students can also select which theme they want to do in Community STEAM; from either Wellbeing, Social Justice or Sustainability. Students also have a wide selection of sports that they choose from at the beginning of year 7.  In year 9 students have a very wide range of elective subjects that they can choose from as they begin to pathway into their senior studies.

At Barkly Campus, each Learning Community has two year 7 homegroups, two year 8 homegroups and 4 year 9 home groups. At Pilgrim Campus, each Learning Community has two year 7 homegroups, two year 8 homegroups, and 1 year 9 homegroup (LC1). The reason for the difference is differing student numbers across each campus, particularly at year 9 in 2022.

We currently have 102 students enrolled at our Barkly Campus and 99 at our Pilgrim Campus.

Camp is over three days and two nights. It runs in the second week of Term 1 and is a valuable opportunity for students to make new friends when beginninng the new chapter of their schooling journey. 

FHS participates in the Victorian High-Ability Program.  Teachers differentiate their instruction according to the individual needs of their students in each class.  A focus for our  Pedagogy Learning Specialists is to ensure that teachers are supported to provide targeted instruction. The school also has employed a High Abilities Learning Specialist to support teachers to accelerate students in their learning.

Meet the Homegroup teacher evening will be held on Tuesday 5th of December at your child’s base campus.

Notifications regarding the Learning Tasks are sent to parents via our Compass Portal. Teachers can also notify parents and students of late submission of work through Compass. Google Classroom also provides parents with an insight into what your student has been studying in class as well as any tasks that are due soon and any tasks that are overdue. All parents will be invited to sign up for Google Classroom work summaries at the beginning of the year. Please check your inboxes for these. 

Footscray High School’s Maths program is different to how many of us would have learnt maths in our own highschool experiences. Our philosophy is based on first diagnosing capabilities across the entire Mathematics curriculum and then focusing teaching on areas where students might have struggled in the past to demonstrate sufficient understanding. This approach is based on the concept of Mastery and the idea that before progressing from foundational concepts students should truly understand them.   

This teaching and learning model also aims to increase student ownership of learning. We focus on Growth and not age based levels as a measure of success. We find that when students are learning at their point of need then they are much more likely to progress towards age based standards faster, even over taking them. For more information please see the following website: https://sites.google.com/footscray.vic.edu.au/fhs-maths-help/parent-information

All Chromebooks will be purchased through the Learning with Technologies Online Portal at a minimum cost of $589.01. 

The school has negotiated a bulk purchase arrangement for the students of Footscray High School that has options for additional warranty and/or insurance. In doing this we get onsite warranty repairs at no extra cost (machines normally come with a return to base warranty) and a fast turn around time on warranty claims as our supplier stocks a large supply of parts.

Students must not leave the campus for any reason without parental consent.  We have a fabulous food service, ‘Eat Well’ where students can buy foods such as sausage rolls, sandwiches, muffins and many more yummy options. The food is made, distributed and sold  by FHS students as part of the ‘Eat Well Program’.

All students are required to use a Chromebook as above. Our IT infrastructure is specifically designed to support chromebooks. All students working from the same device also ensures equity among our students. Please see the above FAQ for more details about the Chromebook. 

Having all students with the same model of Chromebook enables us to keep a stock of parts so we can have a fast turnaround on repairs. If the issue isn’t covered by warranty we charge cost price on the parts required and don’t charge any labour. We also keep a large loan pool so while the machine is being repaired the student isn’t without a device and can continue learning.

Our uniform supplier is Noone. We highly recommend making an appointment with Noone before purchasing uniform items.  Noone will assist you to purchase the correct sizes and quantities.  We suggest buying the basics to begin the year, for example two pairs of shorts, three shirts and a softshell jacket, or two dresses and a softshell jacket, PE shorts and t-shirt and school bag.  You may then choose to purchase elements of the winter uniform when the cool weather commences.  Our uniform is unisex, long wearing and versatile. Sports and academic uniform cannot be mixed. Your student will know when to wear sports uniform when they check their timetable on Compass.

Please contact your child’s base campus at FHS if you need financial assistance to purchase uniform items. 

Students are permitted to wear their sports uniform to school and home on days when they have timetabled PE or Sport.  Our academic uniform must be worn on all other days. 

There are plans to establish a second hand uniform store. We expect this to be operational in 2024. There is currently no option to purchase second hand uniform items through the school.

Yes.  The soft shell jacket can be worn as part of the academic and sports uniforms.

Our uniform has been specifically designed to be gender neutral. FHS has a range of uniform options for both the academic and sports uniform that are suitable for all genders.